Environmental Science Inquiry and Applications Cunningham • Cunningham Principles of Environmental Science Inquiry and Applications Third Edition Cunningham • Cunningham Chapter 1 Lecture Outlines* *See PowerPoint Image Slides for all figures and tables pre-inserted into PowerPoint without notes. Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Understanding Our Environment Chapter 1

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Outline: Environmental Science Science As a Way of Knowing Scientific Design Reasoning Scientific Theory Approaches to Thinking History of Environmentalism Human Dimensions Rich and Poor Countries

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Environmental Science Circumstances and conditions that surround an organism or group of organisms. Social and cultural conditions that affect an individual or community.

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Environmental Science Cont’d 1. Environmental Science is the systematic study of our environment and our place in it. 2. Highly Interdisciplinary Inclusive Holistic Mission-Oriented

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#3.Environmental Science

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SCIENCE AS A WAY OF KNOWING Science rests on the assumptions the world is knowable through empirical study and logical analysis. Reduces tendency to rely on emotional reactions and unexamined assumptions. Searches for testable evidence. Explanations are considered provisional. Additional evidence may disprove current theories.

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SCIENCE AS A WAY OF KNOWING CONT’D Scientists collaborate in a cumulative, self-correcting process. Many people often work on many different aspects of a problem. Creativity, insight, aesthetics and even luck play important roles in scientific research.

Scientific Design Reproducibility Experiments must be designed and recorded such that they can be exactly reproduced by other researchers. Controlled Studies Comparisons are made between experimental and control populations. Every factor except the one being studied is held constant.

Scientific Design Cont’d Blind Experiment Conducted so investigators do not know which is the control and which is the experimental group, until after data have been gathered and analyzed. Double-Blind Neither the subject nor the investigators know which participants are receiving an experimental treatment.

Hypotheses and Theories Hypothesis 4. Conditional explanation that can be tested by further observation or experiment. Logically, a hypothesis based on inductive reasoning can be shown to be wrong, but can almost never be shown to be unquestionably true. Evidence is always provisional. Scientific Theory

Reasoning Deductive 5. Starting with a general principle and deriving a testable predication about a specific case. Inductive Specific examples are examined to locate patterns and derive general explanations from collected observations.

Scientific Method

Modeling and Natural Experiments In some areas, historic evidence can be examined for support or contradiction of an idea. Another method of investigation is using a model simulating the phenomenon under study. Models represents researchers’ assumptions about how a system works. 6. Can produce contradictory results.

Statistics and Probability An attempt to measure and predict the likelihood of an event. Sample Size A critical experimental variable is the number of observations necessary in order to have a reliable representation of a population.

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Paradigms and Scientific Consensus Overarching model of the world that guides our interpretations of events. Tend to guide the types of questions asked by investigators. Paradigm shifts occur when a majority of scientists agree the older general explanations no longer fit the observations. 7. Therefore, proof in science is always open to questions & new evidence.

Approaches to Knowledge and Thinking Analytical Thinking How can I break this problem into parts? Creative Thinking How can I approach this differently? Logical Thinking How can deductive reasoning help? Critical Thinking What am I trying to do? Reflective Thinking What does it all mean?

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Steps in Critical Thinking Identify and evaluate premises and conclusions in an argument. Acknowledge and clarify uncertainties, vagueness, equivocation, and contradictions. Distinguish between facts and values. Recognize and assess assumptions. Distinguish source reliability or unreliability. Recognize and understand conceptual frameworks.

History of Conservation and Environmentalism Four Distinct Stages: Pragmatic Resource Conservation Moral and Aesthetic Nature Preservation Modern Environmentalism Global Environmental Citizenship

Pragmatic Resource Conservation President Theodore Roosevelt and his chief conservation advisor, Gifford Pinchot, believed in utilitarian conservation. 14. Forests should be saved so they can be used to provide homes and jobs. Should be used for “the greatest good for the greatest number, for the longest time.”

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Moral and Aesthetic Nature Preservation John Muir, first president of the Sierra Club, opposed Pinchot’s utilitarian policies. 14. Biocentric Preservation Emphasizes the fundamental right of all organisms to pursue their own interests. 8. Advocates saving natural areas for their beauty & wildlife habitat.

Modern Environmentalism 15. Rachel Carson, Silent Spring. 9. Awakened the public to threats of pollution and toxic chemicals to humans as well as other species. Modern environmentalism extends concerns to include both natural resources and environmental pollution.

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10. Global Concerns Increased travel and communication enables people to know about daily events in places unknown in previous generations. Common environment shared on a global scale. Global Environmentalism

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CURRENT ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS Causes of Environmental Degradation More than 6 billion people now occupy the earth, and we add about 85 million more each year. Most growth will be in poorer countries where present populations already strain resources and services. 11. Thus poverty is usually passed on from generation to generation through the lack of available opportunities.

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Human Dimensions of Environmental Science A small fraction of the world’s population live in increasing luxury, while more than 1.4 billion people live in acute poverty. Seventy percent are women and children. Often meet short-term survival needs at the cost of long-term sustainability. Cycle of poverty, illness and limited opportunities become cyclic.

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Rich and Poor Countries About 20% of the worlds population lives in the twenty richest countries. Average per capita income above $25,000. Other 80% live in middle or low-income countries. Ten poorest countries each have average per capita income of less than $620.00. Richest 200 people in the world have have a combined wealth of $1 trillion. More than total owned by poorest half of the world population (3 billion).

Sustainability Sustainable Development “Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” 12. Proponents of sustainable development argue that development can proceed with minimal costs to the environment.

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Indigenous Peoples Indigenous peoples are generally among the least powerful, most neglected groups. In many countries, traditional caste systems, discriminatory laws, economics, or prejudices repress indigenous peoples. In many places, indigenous people in traditional homelands guard undisturbed habitats and rare species. Recognizing native land rights may safeguard ecological processes.

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Summary: Environmental Science Science As a Way of Knowing Scientific Design Reasoning Scientific Theory Approaches to Thinking History of Environmentalism Human Dimensions Rich and Poor Countries